The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, pursuant to section 14.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act(IRPA), gives the annexed Ministerial Instructions Respecting the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Class.
Ottawa, January 14, 2015
Chris Alexander
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
The Definitions
It is worth highlighting that the following definitions apply in these Ministerial Instructions.
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Applicant (demandeur): This refers to a foreign national who makes an application for a permanent resident visa as a member of the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Class.
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Bank (banque): This has the same meaning as given in section 2 of the Business Development Bank of Canada Act
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Business or Investment Activity (activité d’affaires ou d’investissement): This denotes a private sector for profit activity. But, it does not include any activity related to a state-owned enterprise.
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Fund (fonds): This refers to the capital derived from payments made under the provisions specified in paragraph 2 (2) (e). It refers to any income generated by the investment of the payments for the purposes of investment as venture capital as well. As such, it would include interest and capital gains too.
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Net Worth (avoir net): This refers to the fair market value of all of the assets of an applicant and their spouse or common-law partner. This would typically exclude the fair market value of their primary residence. It would also deduct the fair market value of all of their associated liabilities.
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Regulations (Règlement): This refers to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).
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Words and Expressions: It is worth highlighting that any words and expressions used in these instructions have the same meaning as given in sections one and two and subsection 73 (1) of the Regulations. These meanings apply unless the reader comes across a contrary intention in the text.
The Establishment of the Class
The authorities established the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital class as part of the economic class referred to in subsection 12 (2) of the Act. This class consists of foreign nationals who:
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Have the ability to establish themselves economically in Canada and,
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Meet the requirements prescribed in this section
The Members of the Class
The authorities consider foreign nationals to be members of the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital class if the foreign nationals:
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Have a net worth of at least $10,000,000, which they have acquired lawfully through business or investment activity
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Have attained a level of proficiency of at least benchmark level five in either official language for each of the four language skill areas:
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As specified in the Canadian Language Benchmarks and the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiensand,
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As demonstrated by the results of evaluations designated by the Minister and conducted by an organisation or institution designated by the Minister, in accordance with the provisions specified in subsection 74 (3) of the Regulations for the purpose of evaluating language proficiency
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It is worth mentioning that the results of these evaluations would need to be less than two years old on the date on which the foreign nationals make their applications for permanent resident visas as members of the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital class
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Have a net worth of at least $50,000,000, which the foreign nationals would need to have acquired lawfully through business or investment activity or have one of the following:
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A Canadian educational credential earned after completing a program of at least one year’s duration of post-secondary studies or,
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A foreign diploma, certificate or credential along with an equivalency assessment that indicates that the foreign diploma, certificate or credential is equivalent to a credential referred to in the provisions specified in subparagraph (i)
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It is worth mentioning that this foreign diploma, certificate or credential would need to be less than five years old on the date on which the foreign nationals make their applications for permanent resident visas as members of the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital class
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Have entered into agreements with the Minister that include:
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Providing an undertaking to pay the Minister a sum of $2,000,000 the repayment of which is not guaranteed
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Providing an indication of the form and the manner in which they would be making the payment of this sum and,
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Receiving an undertaking from the Minister:
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To transfer the sum to the Bank so that the Bank can invest this money as venture capital exclusively for the purposes of benefiting Canada and,
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To pay to the foreign nationals a part of the remainder of the Fund, if any, the capital of which the authorities have derived in part from the payment made by the foreign nationals under the provisions specified in paragraph (e)
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Making the payment referred to in subparagraph (d) (i) and,
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Intending to reside in a province other than Quebec
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